Installed Building Products, Inc. vs PULTEGROUP, INC., two Homebuilders stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Installed Building Products installs building products; PulteGroup builds homes, and while IBP earns a higher return on equity, 38.17% against 15.77%, it does so with heavy debt, 1.66 turns, against Pulte's debt-free base. Pulte nets more, 12.14% against IBP's 8.65%, and trades far cheaper, 13.3 times earnings and 2.05 times book against IBP's 24.9 and 9.43. Both convert solid free cash. The pair contrasts a leveraged installer with a scaled homebuilder: IBP's high return leans on borrowed capital turning fast, Pulte's on profitable homebuilding financed by its own balance sheet, and Pulte offers higher margins, less risk, and a much lower multiple, making it the more conservative housing bet.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | IBP | PHM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $225.00 | $124.74 |
| Market cap | $6.1B | $24.1B |
| Sector | Homebuilders | Homebuilders |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | — | -1.6% |
| P/E | 24.0 | 12.1 |
| P/B | 9.09 | 1.86 |
| P/S | 2.06 | 1.43 |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.2 | 198.6 |
| Revenue growth | +0.4% | -6.2% |
| Gross margin | 32.1% | — |
| Operating margin | 8.7% | — |
| Net margin | 8.7% | 12.1% |
| Return on equity | 38.2% | 15.8% |
| Return on assets | 11.4% | 11.2% |
| Return on invested capital | 15.6% | — |
| FCF yield | 5.2% | 7.4% |
| Dividend yield | 1.4% | 0.7% |
| Debt / equity | 1.66 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 3.35 | — |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 4.82 | 3.69 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 5 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.